PEKIN UNDER THE ALLIED POWERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11540, 27 November 1900, Page 5

PEKIN UNDER THE ALLIED POWERS.

No. n.

[BY ABTHtm H. ADAMS, OUR SPECIAL CORRES-

FONDENT in china.]

- PeKin, September 17. The British Legation is rapidly assuming its former appearance. Many of its buildings have been irretrievably ruined, but whatever can be repaired is being attended to. The piles of parti-coloured bags—made of whatever material was available in the Legation, from sacking to the richest silk — are now being removed from the top of the Legation wall, where they served to protect its defenders from the severe Chinese fire. The barricades erected by the Chinese and i the British are being dismantled. The close proximity of these opposing barricades shows how nearly the Chinese succeeded in overcoming the garrison. At each end of the street in which the Legation stands, the bridges are fortified with a thick wall of bricks, thrown up by the Chinese in one night, and even the canal by which the British entered the Tartar city has walls built across its bed. I went, over the chief Chinese fortifications, - which commanded the Legation, and found them of wonderful strength. In one place they had constructed a sloping road of beams to the tops of the Tartar city wall, and on this improvised highway had dragged a heavy gun to a platform at the top. The scaffolding was a splendid example of ingenuity, combined with strength. Now the Union Jack waves over the construction, and Sikhs stand on guard at a hole in the Imperial wall, blasted by dynamite. ■.< THE SALE OF LOOT. Inside the Legation affairs have returned to 'their ordinary routine, but there are several strange features in the daily life. The most noteworthy of these is the daily sale of loot. When a rich city like Pekin is sacked, the individual soldier's share is not small. At first the soldiers were allowed to loot where and how they pleased, but soon orders were issued, by the British, and loot had to be forwarded to the Legation for sale by auction. Organised parties were sent out, under charge of officers, and houses systematically cleared of valuables. This is the British system. The Americans are collecting all their loot, and will sell it by auction at some future date. The Russians are apparently taking no official cognisance of loot, as each soldier has a sack of silk and furs in his tent. The Japanese arid Americans have sent vast quantities of treasuresilver —away from Tientsin respectively to Japan and Shanghai, and the British are packing-up bronze bells and priceless Buddhist manuscripts from Llama Temples, to send to the British Museum. But common loot is carried to the Legation, and there sold by auction every evening. It is a curious sight. The buyers are chiefly British officers, though ladies of the Legation and civilians often attend, and Chinese Mahomrnednns often bid for rare pottery or rich jade ornaments. The loot consists largely of fur-coats, rolls of silk, gold-braid embroidery, old china and bronze ornaments, and an occasional curio, such as a mandarin's sceptre of jade. Sometimes rich silk cloaks are offered, and for these the bidding is spirited and enthusiastic. Generally speaking, considering the difficulty of transport, the prices realised are very high. The proceeds go to the British prize fund. SOME PEN PORTRAITS. General Gaselee is often present. The commander of the British forces in China is a fine type of the British soldier. His tall, imposing form bespeaks the soldier, and his bronzed bluff face, with gray moustache and honest blue eyes, completes a fine personality. The great "J.G." sometimes is seen. Sir Robert Hart, Inspector-General of the Chinese Customs, is a name spoken of throughout China with respect that is almost awe. «He and the Dowager-Empress are the only two autocrats of the East. He is reported to be immensely-rich; he is the only foreigner that the Chinese, from the lowest coolie to the Emperor, respect and admire. lint in person the great "J.G." is a disappointment. He is a little man of quite ordinary appearance. His bent shoulders, his shrinking, insignificant ways, are in curious contrast to the great and deserved reputation he bears. No one speaking to the little old man, with his ordinary face, with its white beard, would guess him to be what he is. And Sir Claude MacDonald, the British Minister at l'ekin, is from a personal point of view another disappointment. Imagine a tall man, thin to the verge of emaciation, with long drooping brown moustache, which lie is continually nervously fingering, blue"eyes, set in a long, weak face, a penchant -for getting curled up into undignified and comfortable attitudes, and a jerky gesticulation as he speaksand you have Sir Claude Mac Donald. He looks a weak man—that strength and sagacity that one looks for in a British diplomatist are sadly lacking in his appearance', and from what I have heard in Pekin, it seems a pity that Great Britain does not consider her interests in the Kant of sufficient importance to be represented by a- stronger man. THE FORBIDDEN CITY. Pekin is like a nest of boxes, city being placed inside city, the Chinese, the Tartar, the Manciiu, until at last the central city is readied, the Forbidden City—the palace of Kwang Hsu, the Son of Heaven. While the foreign troops took in turn, and now occupy, the outer cities, the thrice-walled Forbidden City is still he abode of the palace officials, and though the Russian and Japanese troops guard the gates* no foreigners intrude inside the great yellow-tiled walls. All around the. moat is the busy work of the investing armies; inside, the accustomed quiet of the sacred palace reigns. The Emperor has Red. but his officials still hold the palace. With some other correspondents J went the other day to the top of Coal (or Prospect) Hill, the highest point in the 'lily of Pekin, which is situated just north of the palace, and which commands a fine view of the whole city. Coal Hill has been made a central rendezvous of all the occupying troops, and a section of each nationality is encamped here. The hill is crowned by a series of beautiful pagodas, "littering in their yellow and blue tiles. From the topmost pagoda the flags of all the investing nations are displayed in a groupa proud sign of the armed power of the West. From this elevated position I could overlook the whole of lie Forbidden City. It was one square expanse of glittering yellow, pagoda after pagoda pushing its brilliant-tiled curving roof above the green foliage of the many courtyards. A high wall of the same eternal Imperial colour shut off the palace from the rest- of the city, and a broad moat—partly dry—completed its isolation. - AWAITING THE EMPEROR. I was talking the other day in the Legation with the Marquis Tsung, a young Chinese noble. He was anxious to return to Tiis home, outside Pekin, but at that time a Russian detachment was passing the Legation gates. He deemed it prudent to wait till they were out of sight. I asked him what he meant to do in the present- disturbed state of his country. " IT' he said, with line pride, " I shall await the return of my Emperor." "And where is lie'/" I asked. "Ah! that I do not know." "And when will he return?" I pursued. "My Emperor will choose his own time to return." was his reply. Then he rode off with his attendants. The Russians were out of sight. And * in the palace the Emperor's officials are also awaiting the return of their Emperor. The Head-Censor, the Imperial Grand Secretary, the President of the Board of Revenue, and the Chief Officer of the Imperial Household, are waiting that event with Oriental patience, and within those guarded walls a fragment of the old palacelife goes on; the eunuchs still guard the apartments; many of the women of the household still keep in their harem, and the mandarins of high rank see that the Emperor's palace is in fit order for his return. THE MARCH THROUGH THE PALACE. The majority of the correspondents who were lucky enough to be in Pekin in time to take part in the state entry of the foreign troops into the Forbidden City, describe the affair as a fiasco. Instead of being a- military parade of force— army of conquest marching up to the vacant throne of a con- J

quered country affair took on the appearance of an afternoon tea. Instead of the generals < appearing as victors, they seemed to be guests. The Imperial officials left in the palace dispensed tea and delicacies to the visiting generals, as if they were holding a reception. Only a limited number of the troops took part in the display, and as the proportion of each unit was limited by its total strength in China, the British troops had to take third place. The Russians had precedence; the Japanese came second. ' After the British came the Americans, the French, Germans, Italians, and Austrians. The -rear was brought up by correspondents. Like all .Chinese temples I have visited, the palace is said to have been a magnificent disappointment. Tawdriness and grandeur, splendor and neglect, are inseparable in-a. CLaitese temple, and the palace was no exception. Courtyards, overgrown' with weeds, a throne-room whose floor was covered with the litter of pigeons, and magnificent apartments, dingy with dust and neglect. Strict orders had been given against looting, but it is not to be doubted that many articles of priceless worth disappeared into the pockets of the visitors. ' Those who were greedy had to disgorge the contents of their bulging pockets, but those who contented themselves with a carved jade dish or a golden vase, carried off their treasure unmolested. The apartments of the women were not visited, as it was predicted that the women would) commit suicide at the sight of a foreigner's face. The scene in the throne-room, where officers of all nationalities in turn sat on the throne of the august Kwang Hsu, must have been as unprecedented as it was ludicrous. Having ' marched through the palace, the army dispersed, the gates were shut, the sentries resumed their guard, and .the palace relapsed into its Oriental seclusion.